Moon Dust, Blue Fly and UFO draft policy (1961)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 4

| Date | 13 November 1961 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Crashes & retrievals (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Disinformation & hoaxes (topic) |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 64 |
| Year | 1961 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1961 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 7 |
Moon Dust, Blue Fly and UFO draft policy (1961) — An Air Force draft policy names intelligence teams for Projects Moon Dust, Blue Fly and 'UFO'.
A November 1961 Air Force intelligence draft paper, prepared by Col. Betz of the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (AFCIN-1E-O), describes three-man field teams of the 1127th Field Activities Group. In peacetime, these teams were to support three projects: "Moon Dust", recovering fallen foreign space objects and debris; "Blue Fly", rushing such material quickly to the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson; and "UFO", investigating reliably reported unidentified flying objects.
The draft was obtained by researchers through Freedom of Information Act requests in the 1980s. It appears never to have been formally approved, and a 1986 Air Force reply said the projects had ended and their records were destroyed, though later State Department cables showed Moon Dust remained active into the 1970s.
The document is genuine and is one of the clearest official records showing that the Air Force planned for rapid recovery of unusual objects, including UFOs. Skeptics note that in practice Moon Dust recovered Soviet rocket parts and satellite debris. Others argue that it shows the government had a recovery capability that it didn't acknowledge publicly.
People and topics
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Project Moon Dust — An Air Force program to locate and recover fallen foreign space objects and debris.
- Project Blue Fly — An Air Force effort to rush recovered foreign material to the Foreign Technology Division.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Foreign Technology Division — The Air Force unit at Wright-Patterson that analysed foreign technology.
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — The Ohio air base that housed Project Blue Book and is linked to the Hangar 18 legend.
- Freedom of Information Act — The 1966 U.S. law that lets the public request government records.
On the Timeline
- Kennedy MJ-12 memo of June 1961 (28 June 1961) — An alleged Kennedy memo asks the CIA to review 'MJ-12' operations.
- Gun-camera films sent to the CIA claim (1962) — Researcher Richard Hall says jet gun-camera UAP films were routinely sent to the CIA.
See every 1961 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Project Moon Dust — The Debrief · thedebrief.org · archived copy
- Project Moon Dust documents — Sacred Texts · sacred-texts.com · archived copy
- Blue Fly and Moon Dust — Patrick Gross · ufology.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- Declassified Moon Dust files — IBTimes · ibtimes.co.uk · archived copy
- 4.bp.blogspot.com · 4.bp.blogspot.com · archived copy
- 1.bp.blogspot.com · 1.bp.blogspot.com · archived copy
- 2.bp.blogspot.com · 2.bp.blogspot.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Project Moon Dust — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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